The Prime Ministers of Great Britain – a list

The Prime Ministers of Great Britain – a list

The first Prime Minister – Robert Walpole / historiasyvidas.com

The first ‘Prime Minister’ to hold that title in Britain was Robert Walpole, a Whig. Before 1721 there were First Ministers, Lord Chancellors, Heads of the Council and other names for the chief adviser to the monarch, and (when there were sitting parliaments) the leader of the governing party, if such a thing existed. ‘Whigs’ became ‘Liberals’ in 1846 with Lord John Russell; ‘Tories’ became ‘Conservatives’ in 1834 with Robert Peel. In 1924 the first Labour Party Prime Minister was James Ramsay Macdonald. In 1935 Stanley Baldwin became the first of two Nationalist Party Prime Ministers. In1783 the Duke of Portland became the first of three Coalition (combination of two or more parties) Prime Ministers followed in 1915 by Asquith, and in 1916 by David Lloyd George. The word ‘Premier’ seems to be a 20th century invention, and its use is perfectly correct.

DATE NAME PARTY

1721 – 42 Robert Walpole Whig

1742 – 43 Spencer Compton Whig

1743 – 54 Henry Pelham Whig

1754 – 56 Duke of Newcastle Whig

1756 – 57 Duke of Devonshire Whig

1757 – 62 Duke of Newcastle Whig

1762 – 63 Earl of Bute Tory

1763 – 65 George Grenville Whig

1765 – 76 Marquess of Rockingham Whig

1766 – 70 Duke of Grafton Whig

1770 – 82 Lord North Tory

1782 Marquess of Rockingham Whig

1782 – 83 Earl of Shelburne Whig

1783 Duke of Portland Coal

1783- 1801 William Pitt Tory

1801 – 04 Henry Addington Tory

1804 – 06 William Pitt again Tory

1806 – 07 Lord Grenville Whig

1807 – 09 Duke of Portland again Tory

1809 – 12 Spencer Percival Tory

1812 – 27 Earl of Liverpool Tory

1827 George Canning Tory

1827 – 28 Viscount Goderich Tory

1828 – 30 Duke of Wellington Tory

1830 – 04 Earl Grey Whig

1834 Viscount Melbourne Whig

1834 – 35 Robert Peel Con

1835 – 41 Viscount Melbourne again Whig

1841 – 46 Robert Peel again Con

1846 – 52 Lord John Russell Lib

1852 Earl of Derby Con

1852 – 55 Lord Aberdeen Peelite

1855 – 58 Viscount Palmerston Lib

1858 – 59 Earl of Derby again Con

1859 – 65 Viscount Palmerston again Lib

1865 – 66 Lord John Russell again Lib

1866 – 68 Earl of Derby again Con

1868 Benjamin Disraeli Con

1868 – 74 William E. Gladstone Lib

1874 – 80 Benjamin Disraeli again Con

1880 – 85 William E. Gladstone again Lib

1885 – 86 Marquess of Salisbury Con

1886 William E. Gladstone again Lib

1886 – 92 Marquess of Salisbury again Con

1892 – 94 William E. Gladstone again Lib

1894 -95 Earl of Roseberry Lib

1895-1902 Marquess of Salisbury again Con

1902 – 05 Arthur J. Balfour Con

1905 – 08 Henry Campbell-Bannerman Lib

1908 – 15 Herbert H. Asquith Lib

1915 – 16 Herbert H. Asquith = Coal

1916 – 22 David Lloyd George Coal

1922 – 23 Andrew Bonar Law Con

1923 – 24 Stanley Baldwin Con

1924 James Ramsay Macdonald Lab

1924 – 29 Stanley Baldwin again Con

1929 – 31 James R. Macdonald again Lab

1931 – 35 James R. Macdonald again = Nat

1935 – 37 Stanley Baldwin again = Nat

1937 – 40 Arthur Neville Chamberlain Nat

1940 – 45 Winston Churchill Coal

1945 – 51 Clement Attlee Lab

1951 – 55 Winston Churchill again = Con

1955 – 57 Anthony Eden Con

1957 – 63 Harold Macmillan Con

1963 – 64 Alec Douglas-Home Con

1964 – 70 Harold Wilson Lab

1970 – 74 Edward Heath Con

1974 – 76 Harold Wilson again Lab

1976 – 79 James Callaghan Lab

1979 – 90 Margaret Thatcher Con

1990 – 97 John Major Con

1997 – 2007 Tony Blair Lab

2007 – 2010 Gordon Brown Lab

2010 – David Cameron Con

Family names of those with senior titles:

Spencer Compton – Earl of Wilmington

Thomas Pelham-Holles – Duke of Newcastle

William Cavendish – Duke of Devonshire

John Stuart – Earl of Bute

Charles Watson Wentworth – Marquess of Rockingham

Augustus Henry Fitzroy – Duke of Grafton

William Petty Fitzmaurice – Earl of Shelburne

William Henry Cavendish – Duke of Portland

William Wyndham – Lord Grenville

Robert Banks Jenkinson – Earl of Liverpool

Frederick John Robinson – Viscount Goderich

Arthur Wellesley – Duke of Wellington

William Lamb – Viscount Melbourne

Edward George Stanley – Earl of Derby

George Hamilton-Gordon – Lord Aberdeen

Henry John Temple – Viscount Palmerston

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil – Marquess of Salisbury

Arhibald Philip Primrose – Earl of Roseberry

(Sir) Alec Douglas-Home – 14th Earl of Home (renounced)

(Special note: The term ‘Marquis’, meaning Marquess, is French, and the use of it in English is incorrect. Columnists and novelists take note)

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‘Dean Swift’ is a pen name: the author has been a soldier; he has worked in sales, TV, the making of films, as a teacher of English and history and a journalist. He is married with three grown-up children. They live in Spain.

Author

‘Dean Swift’ is a pen name: the author has been a soldier; he has worked in sales, TV, the making of films, as a teacher of English and history and a journalist. He is married with three grown-up children. They live in Spain.

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Sources & Bibliography

Encyclopaedia Britannica
Oxford Encyclopaedia of World History
Chambers Dictionary of World History
New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History
The Spectator